Exodus 7 vs. 7-12 with Betty

7 And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.

8 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

9 When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.

10 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

11 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.

12 For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

K.J.V. Bible Text

My Thoughts:

Following the instructions of the Lord, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh to request that he release the Israelites. To prove the power of the Lord, Moses had the rod with which to work miracles; but when Moses threw down his rod and it became a serpent, Pharaoh called his sorcerers and they were likewise able to do this miracle; “but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.”

Don’t you just love it! This is the kind of stuff of which great movies are made and in fact, a great movie was made of this story—the movie called The Ten Commandments starring Charlton Heston. Many, many people have seen this movie and many, like me, have seen it multiple times over the years.

The movie was made because the story of the deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt is a great story; but when we look at the movie or read the story in the bible , how do we define the symbolism of the serpent of God swallowing up those other serpents?

Was God telling Pharaoh and all of Egypt that the God of the Israelites could also swallow them up? For certain, the Lord wanted Pharaoh to resist the entreaties of Moses and Aaron so that he could show his power before all the people—both the Egyptians and the Hebrews. I believe the Lord knew that in order to lead a host of people safely away from a host of antagonists, he would need to show them that the power of the Lord was invincible. Only then would the Egyptians be afraid and the Israelites confident.